James Altucher on improving 1% a day

Too often our goals and dreams get caught up in the same old boom and bust cycle. We do so well, and then we fall off. We live good then start bingeing again.

This is natural. We are human. Oftentimes we are pushing too hard, and we find it difficult to process the failures when the come.

The trick here is to see our progress as evolution rather than overnight transformation. It was James Altucher who really hit this home for me.

James really broke down what he said in his TED Talk. The key to escaping the boom and bust cycle for him was making sure he improved 1% each day.

There are four main areas James recommends making these improvements in:

Physical health

Emotional well-being

Spiritual/gratitude

Mental health – working the ideas muscle!

1. Physical health

James is no gym rat. All he recommends is improving things gradually, going for walks, cutting back on drink and junk food. Taking better care of yourself, basically.

To get momentum in physical health, start small. All you need to do is make sure you are progressing, pushing yourself more each day. This way you will start to notice changes quicker than you think!

2. Emotional health

The relationships in our lives are crucial, and it’s not just about being around successful people.

It’s a question of what James terms “love and trust”. Are the people in your life supportive, loving and invested in your success? If not, then simply make small steps each day to reach out to new people, or spend time in new environments. Remember, it’s not overnight. Small changes.

3. Spirituality and gratitude

Spirituality is not a word James uses, and in his TED Talk he explains it’s about simply seeing opportunities rather than limitations.

He told me that he deals with anxiety and fear by turning each challenge or difficulty into a gratitude exercise. It’s easy to be grateful for the things we love, but giving thanks for the tough stuff often turns struggle into opportunity. Experiment. A 1% shift in your daily mindset is progress!

4. Mental health

James is a business success, because he put creativity at the centre of his daily life. He uses his now famous waiter pads to record at least ten ideas each day.

Some of these ideas might never come to anything. It’s not the point. Simply exercising the ideas muscle improves your mental health, keeps you innovative and alert to your environment. It also stops you falling into unhelpful thought patterns. This is such a big part of how James broke his boom and bust cycles.It took me four years to build this business. I simply made sure I was putting one foot in front of the other every day, releasing an episode week in week out.

Running your own business is a marathon not a sprint, but people too easily get caught up in the image of success rather than laying the foundations.

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